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Dobbyn applauds permanent winter disconnection ban

Francesca Dobbyn says an Ontario Energy Board decision banning electricity companies from disconnecting power to peoples' homes due to non-payment in winter is something she has been pushing for for more than a decade.

“I'm relieved,” the executive director of the United Way of Bruce Grey said in an interview.

“We're exhausted. This has been a battle for years of getting these changes, getting the voices of people in our community into the hands of the decision-makers.”

The OEB decision, handed down Thursday, bans electricity distributors from disconnecting or threatening to disconnect homes for non-payment from Nov. 15 to April 30 each year.

It goes a step further by banning the use of load-control devices during that period.

The OEB has also ordered electricity distributors to reconnect as soon as possible and without charge all homes that are currently disconnected due to non-payment.

In the future, homes must be reconnected by Nov. 15 each year.

The OEB decision comes nine months after Ontario MPPs passed the Protecting Vulnerable Energy Consumers Act in February, which gave the OEB the power to end winter disconnections.

A day after that legislation was passed, the OEB issued an order to utility companies to reconnect all customers that were without power and to not disconnect any electrical services due to non-payment or arrears until at least May 1.

The OEB, at the time, said the order was intended to be an interim measure to cover the rest of the 2016-17 winter. The energy regulator said it would launch a comprehensive review of customer service rules, including those related to winter disconnections, for electricity distributors.

Dobbyn said some companies already had in place voluntary bans on disconnecting electricity in winter before the Protecting Vulnerable Energy Consumers Act was passed.

Hydro One, for example, had a policy to not disconnect customers in arrears from Dec. 1 to March 31.

However, other companies, like Walkerton-based Westario Power, did not.

Dobbyn said the United Way has helped single parents with young children, seniors and others to get their power turned back on in the middle of winter.

She said Westario is required to put about $25,000 a year into a fund to assist low-income customers with their hydro bills. However, that money was typically used up by March each year, Dobbyn said.

“Bruce County was running the Westario program and when they ran out of Westario money the clients came to us. And we were using our funds that we fundraise to assist Westario clients,” she said.

The winter disconnection ban lets the United Way focus more on helping people who heat their homes with wood, oil and propane buy those heating sources in winter instead of scrambling to help Westario customers to have their power restored.

Only money that has been fundraised by the agency is available to help people buy wood, oil and propane.

Dobbyn said the United Way can also now do a better job of planning how to use its resources since the OEB decision includes the same winter disconnection ban period for all companies. For example, it can ensure all hands are on deck to help people once the ban period ends.

“We're a charity; we don't have a lot of staff, we don't have a lot of resources. So when we can plan and deploy them and genuinely help people, that makes us better at what we do,” she said.

But Dobbyn said she wants to emphasize that the OEB decision does not give people permission to stop paying their hydro bill.

“You need to pay as much as you can on your bill and pay it off as much as you can every month,” she said.

Assistance programs require that customers have a history of attempting to pay.

Dobbyn said it's also important for people who are struggling to pay their hydro bill to see the United Way or call 211 as soon as possible. The agencies can help direct those clients to assistance programs.